TicketsDALLAS – The No. 4-ranked Cincinnati football team wrapped up its first day of practice at AT&T Stadium in Dallas at approximately 12:30 p.m. CT Monday.
Offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock, quarterback Desmond Ridder, offensive lineman Dylan O'Quinn, wide receiver Alec Pierce and running back Jerome Ford all spoke to media following practice.
Facing the No. 1 team in the country comes with obvious challenges, and one of the biggest challenges for the offense is going to be controlling Alabama's defensive front.
"I think it's how athletic they are," said Denbrock. "They give you so many different looks, and then you combine that with the quality of athletes they have on the defensive side of the ball, that presents some real issues."
The solution to that problem may come in the form of five offensive linemen who look forward to facing off against the Crimson Tide.
"It's Alabama," said O'Quinn. "They're big, strong and physical. We'll have a challenge ahead of us, but we're up for it. We're going to do our best to block their defensive line, get our running backs to the second level and keep our quarterback on his feet."
Cincinnati's offensive line features three All-AAC First Team selections in O'Quinn, junior guard Lorenz Metz and sophomore center Jake Renfro. When you add junior Jeremy Cooper, senior Vincent McConnell and junior James Tunstall, you get one of the best offensive line rooms in the nation.
As a group, this offensive line has paved the way for an offense that averaged 6.93 yards per play this year, which ranks sixth nationally. The Bearcats also led the AAC in yards per rush (5.4).
For a quarterback to have as good of a year as Ridder did, he needs to be protected, and the offensive line did just that this year. They allowed only 1.54 sacks per game, which ranked second in the conference.
More impressively, the Bearcats ranked second in nation in tackles for loss allowed with only 3.23 per games (42 total). Temple was the AAC's next-highest ranked team (61).
While not getting tackled behind the line of scrimmage is important, that doesn't matter much if you can't put points on the board. Cincinnati didn't have trouble doing that this year.
Led by the consistent play of the offensive line, the Bearcats set single-season school records with 70 touchdowns and 510 points scored in their 13 games. Running back Jerome Ford also exploded for a monster year behind this line, rushing for 1,242 yards and 19 touchdowns while averaging 6.2 yards per carry.
The success of the offense, and specifically the offensive line, is due in large part to the experience and veteran leadership of the group. Between Cooper, O'Quinn, Renfro, Tunstall, McConnell and Metz, they've played in 188 career games.
That experience plus the line's ability to stay mostly healthy this year led to consistent success up front for the Bearcats' offense.
Cooper and O'Quinn have started every game while Renfro started all but one. Tunstall took the starting left tackle job over in week four and hasn't looked back. McConnell started the first two and last three games and served as a team captain in multiple games this year. Metz started eight games in a row, earning All-AAC First Team honors.
So even against an Alabama defensive front that most consider elite, Cincinnati's offensive coordinator still has confidence in his group when facing off against anyone.
"I think this is a group, because of the leadership we have, that's capable of matching up and having success in any situation," said Denbrock. "These guys play for each other, they believe in each other, they've been through the wars together. This is truly a family of football players, and they play for each other."
And even though they may be labeled as the underdogs by most people, this group will not back down or change anything that they have done all year.
"We've heard a lot about this David versus Goliath talk, but the fact of the matter is, everybody puts their pants on the same way, everybody plays the game of football," said O'Quinn. "We're focused on being us, we just want to go out and be us."
The Bearcats will practice the rest of the week at AT&T Stadium before facing No. 1 Alabama in the College Football Playoff Semifinals at the 86th Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic on Dec. 31 at 2:30 p.m. CT.
RESERVE YOUR 2022 SEASON TICKETS NOW
The Cincinnati Athletics Ticket Office is now accepting deposits for 2022 football season tickets here.
FOLLOW THE BEARCATS
For all the latest information on Cincinnati Athletics, please visit GoBEARCATS.com. For up-to-the-minute updates, follow Cincinnati Athletics on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock, quarterback Desmond Ridder, offensive lineman Dylan O'Quinn, wide receiver Alec Pierce and running back Jerome Ford all spoke to media following practice.
Facing the No. 1 team in the country comes with obvious challenges, and one of the biggest challenges for the offense is going to be controlling Alabama's defensive front.
"I think it's how athletic they are," said Denbrock. "They give you so many different looks, and then you combine that with the quality of athletes they have on the defensive side of the ball, that presents some real issues."
The solution to that problem may come in the form of five offensive linemen who look forward to facing off against the Crimson Tide.
"It's Alabama," said O'Quinn. "They're big, strong and physical. We'll have a challenge ahead of us, but we're up for it. We're going to do our best to block their defensive line, get our running backs to the second level and keep our quarterback on his feet."
Cincinnati's offensive line features three All-AAC First Team selections in O'Quinn, junior guard Lorenz Metz and sophomore center Jake Renfro. When you add junior Jeremy Cooper, senior Vincent McConnell and junior James Tunstall, you get one of the best offensive line rooms in the nation.
As a group, this offensive line has paved the way for an offense that averaged 6.93 yards per play this year, which ranks sixth nationally. The Bearcats also led the AAC in yards per rush (5.4).
For a quarterback to have as good of a year as Ridder did, he needs to be protected, and the offensive line did just that this year. They allowed only 1.54 sacks per game, which ranked second in the conference.
More impressively, the Bearcats ranked second in nation in tackles for loss allowed with only 3.23 per games (42 total). Temple was the AAC's next-highest ranked team (61).
While not getting tackled behind the line of scrimmage is important, that doesn't matter much if you can't put points on the board. Cincinnati didn't have trouble doing that this year.
Led by the consistent play of the offensive line, the Bearcats set single-season school records with 70 touchdowns and 510 points scored in their 13 games. Running back Jerome Ford also exploded for a monster year behind this line, rushing for 1,242 yards and 19 touchdowns while averaging 6.2 yards per carry.
The success of the offense, and specifically the offensive line, is due in large part to the experience and veteran leadership of the group. Between Cooper, O'Quinn, Renfro, Tunstall, McConnell and Metz, they've played in 188 career games.
That experience plus the line's ability to stay mostly healthy this year led to consistent success up front for the Bearcats' offense.
Cooper and O'Quinn have started every game while Renfro started all but one. Tunstall took the starting left tackle job over in week four and hasn't looked back. McConnell started the first two and last three games and served as a team captain in multiple games this year. Metz started eight games in a row, earning All-AAC First Team honors.
So even against an Alabama defensive front that most consider elite, Cincinnati's offensive coordinator still has confidence in his group when facing off against anyone.
"I think this is a group, because of the leadership we have, that's capable of matching up and having success in any situation," said Denbrock. "These guys play for each other, they believe in each other, they've been through the wars together. This is truly a family of football players, and they play for each other."
And even though they may be labeled as the underdogs by most people, this group will not back down or change anything that they have done all year.
"We've heard a lot about this David versus Goliath talk, but the fact of the matter is, everybody puts their pants on the same way, everybody plays the game of football," said O'Quinn. "We're focused on being us, we just want to go out and be us."
The Bearcats will practice the rest of the week at AT&T Stadium before facing No. 1 Alabama in the College Football Playoff Semifinals at the 86th Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic on Dec. 31 at 2:30 p.m. CT.
RESERVE YOUR 2022 SEASON TICKETS NOW
The Cincinnati Athletics Ticket Office is now accepting deposits for 2022 football season tickets here.
FOLLOW THE BEARCATS
For all the latest information on Cincinnati Athletics, please visit GoBEARCATS.com. For up-to-the-minute updates, follow Cincinnati Athletics on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.